The latest takedown of the thin credentials of Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant and a self-proclaimed counterterrorism expert, comes from his own dissertation adviser.
“I would not call him an expert on terrorism,” Stephen Sloan, a retired professor of political science who advised Gorka on the Ph.D. dissertation he completed at Budapest’s Corvinus University and considers the White House aide a friend, told CNN in a report published Friday.
TPM reported on Gorka’s lack of qualifications and name recognition among counterterrorism experts in February. The experts surveyed questioned his lack of Arabic language fluency, hardline diatribes against the threat of “radical Islam” and close ties to fringe figures like anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney.
“His level of expertise does not match the level where he stands in the White House,” Sloan told CNN, adding that Gorka “does a very good job being the bulldog” for the Trump White House “but as an adviser, I have some discomfort.”
Gorka prominently advertises his degree, going by the name “Sebastian Gorka DrG” on Twitter and requesting that Fox News introduce him as “Dr. Sebastian Gorka” in his frequent on-camera appearances.
He also has been criticized for his association with a far-right Hungarian nationalist group originally founded by a Nazi collaborator, although there’s no indication he personally holds anti-Semitic views.
Even Gorka’s West Wing colleagues have cast doubt on his competence, telling reporters that he contributes little to policy development and mostly hangs around the White House waiting to do his next cable news hit.
Gorka did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, and the White House press office refused the network’s questions about what Gorka does, who he advises and whether he holds the security clearance required to work on sensitive terrorism-related matters. BuzzFeed News reported in March that he had no such clearance.
With the Friday departure of Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and Gorka’s former boss at Breitbart News, multiple reports indicate that Gorka’s future in the White House is uncertain.
